Thursday, June 30, 2011

This spicy coconut shrimp bisque recipe was inspired by a similar soup I saw Chef John Besh make during a demo I attended at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. As I watched him make it, I couldn't wait to get back to San Francisco to give it a try.

How close is this to his version? I have no idea, as I was drunk on tequila. Besides the coconut milk, I can barely remember what he put in it. After doing a pre-show shot with his assistants, Besh jokingly instructed the floor staff to pour the audience a shot. Minutes later, much to his delight, shots of tequila were distributed throughout the room.

Just that would have made for an amusing anecdote, but it didn't stop there. By the time the demo ended 45 minutes later, we had enjoyed five rounds of drinks, with Besh and his sous chef more than keeping pace. Remarkably, when the show ended, the well-oiled chef had managed to produce a seriously delicious looking bisque with dumplings. What a show off.

Anyway, I know it's been a while since I posted a real video recipe, but I really think this one will have been worth the wait. I loved how this turned out, and I think you will as well. I hope you give it a try, and maybe tweak it with some different combinations of seafood and garnishes. Cheers! Err, I mean, enjoy!

51 comments:

You have completely demystified making shrimp bisque for me! And can I tell you, the moment I started playing the video, my sleepy cat got up off my lap and put her law up on the desk and was watching your video. Then she got up on the desk and put her nose directly to the video. You had her at, "Hello!" Me too, by the way.

Chef John I love your blog and am glad that you are back from your video recipe hiatus. Two things:I thought the holy trinity of cajun cooking always included garlic, am I wrong?Second, wouldn't you agree that it would have been better to saute the curry paste with the butter for a few seconds instead of just adding it to the liquid?

You can certainly add garlic, but the classic trinity is what I stated. At least that what my NOLA sources tell me. yes, I just forgot to saute in butter. More important for dry spices, but still a good idea.

Not all farmed meat is created equal! Not a philosophical thing at all. Farmed lamb, not problem. But if you research wild shrimp vs. farmed SE Asian shrimp I think you'll see why. Same for most farmed vs. wild salmon. etc.

Dear Chef John, my girlfriend and I (me french, she Irish) think you absolutely rock. We did this today and it was fabulous. Thank you for all the great recipes, we owe many a great dinner to you. Nico and Poppy from London.

Hi Chef John.I have a small doubt, have you used green garlic? and if I do not have the jalapeno pepper, I can use another pepper? which pepper?Thanks (sorry for my bad English, I am Brazilian and I love your blog)

I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable recipe. I had exactly 15 semi-peeled & deveined U/15 shrimp in my freezer, so this worked out perfectly. My question is about the "vein." My (ocean caught) shrimp already had the top vein removed, but after removing the rest of the shell, it looked like there was another, smaller vein on the bottom of the shrimp. This one actually did look like it might be a real vein. I removed it, but I was wondering if this one is OK to leave, since it isn't full of poop.

You were right, it was worth the weight, I mean wait. Seafood bisque simplified is one to learn with a daughter who doesn't eat livestock. It was as if you read my mind because I just discovered bisque and got all excited in a crappy soup buffet! I've been getting the ladies thanks to your recipes! (Remember the Thai green coconut chicken? !!)

You were right it was worth the weight, I mean wait. You read my mind with the seafood bisque simplified. I just discovered Bisque to my delight in a crappy soup buffet. You know, Chef John, I've been getting the ladies with your recipes :D (Remember your Thai green coconut shrimp?? !!)

Tried this tonight, and when I first got to the "taste for seasoning" part, I was bitterly disappointed. But turns out it's just cause the organic tomato soup I used was HORRIBLE. So bland. I was stupid and didn't taste it before using it. I would have been better off with the red and white label. Tip for anyone else with this problem: I added like 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, and that brightened it right up. Totally delicious after that! I will definitely make it again as soon as I find a better soup!

I made this tonight for my wife and me and it was amazing! The addition of the coconut milk and curry paste gives it just a hint of something exotic, and the shrimp cooked this way just melted in your mouth. Wow. Just... Wow.

First, if you've never made shrimp stock before (I have not) be prepared. It smells wonderful.

I pretty much followed the recipe as written and demonstrated, but only used one small jalapeno -- so it was probably a bit less than called for and went a little heavier on the celery (one whole stalk) and green onion (three whole stalks). I did sweat my curry paste before adding the liquids. I don't have fish sauce so I salted, and though it needed more than the 1/2 tsp I used, and I did put in just a pinch of cayenne when tasting the broth (I thought it needed more heat still, but as it was it was very subtlely spicy).

For those wondering how to divide the butter: I went half in the stock and half in the soup, but ended up needing more butter to make the roux... Had I been paying more attention I would have realized that before dividing (I think roux usually use equal parts fat and flour, and 3 tbsp = 1/4 cup).

It's winter and nice fresh basil is hard to come by, so I skipped that and finished mine with a quarter cup of rice instead of crackers.

So so so good!! We made your jambalaya recipe last week an tonight tried this one! Love it! I'm about to surf your blog for what's going to be on the menu tomorrow! I thank you, my husband thanks you and my very happy tummy thanks you!!!

or something else... you're too funnee! I've been a big fan/follower home cook for a year now. I love this soup! You probably have a lot of Asian connections because this is the first time I've seen anyone do what we, Filipinos do to shrimp shells(Only diff is we always have heads attached to that shrimp, American shrimps are always headless ;-). Fantastic!Only thing I changed was the addition of choice(we call it 'atsuete' liquid for more color. Love all your recipes & great sense of funny!

Made this last night and both my husband and I loved it. Looking forward to making it again. I used fresh Mayport shrimp (from our coastal waters in NE Florida), but they were very soft. Fresh but soft. Slicing them in half wasn't easy. My favorite part of assembling this recipe was that big bang of shrimp aroma when the shells hit the hot butter. OMG. Divine! You weren't kidding when you said it tastes like God. Next time, I think I'll add a little more coconut milk and red chili paste. We like it spicy.